1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method and to an apparatus for optically checking an electrical component that is held at a suction pipette of an equipping head of an automatic equipping unit for equipping component carriers.
2. Related Art
Up to now, it was standard to check the presence of a component at a suction pipette with a light barrier, whereby an optical receiver detects an intensity change of the received light pulses as the component passes through the light barrier. The suction pipettes can differ in length and thickness dependent on the type and thickness of the components to be equipped. Especially given the use of small components, it is therefore difficult to find a location for the sensor at which the component is sure to be acquired by the sensor.